re: Anyone else think it's total BS that it cost the same to buy

quote:simply because the production cost is lower on a downloaded game vs. the hard copy.

again, what does production cost have to do with the market value of a good? that is only a tiny component of the total cost of this particular good. do digital music albums sell for considerably less than that same hard copy album?

the true costs of these types of goods are in the production/development not the distribution

taylork37Ohio State FanThe social pipelineMember since Mar 201012005 posts

re: Anyone else think it's total BS that it cost the same to buy(Posted by taylork37 on 3/15/13 at 1:00 pm to jcole4lsu)

quote:again, what does production cost have to do with the market value of a good? that is only a tiny component of the total cost of this particular good. do digital music albums sell for considerably less than that same hard copy album?

the true costs of these types of goods are in the production/development not the distribution

Like I said, I would really like to see the breakdown and what cost they pass down to the consumer for the physical portion.

ETA:

And again, digital download is more valuable to the developers because it eliminates used game sales. At the end of it all, they make more money from a digitally downloaded game because it is not available to be resold.

re: Anyone else think it's total BS that it cost the same to buy(Posted by jcole4lsu on 3/15/13 at 1:04 pm to taylork37)

quote: I would really like to see the breakdown and what cost they pass down to the consumer for the physical portion.

with the advent of digital download, one might look at physical media as a cost the supplier has to eat, not pass on to the consumer.

quote:digital download is more valuable to the developers because it eliminates used game sales. At the end of it all, they make more money from a digitally downloaded game because it is not available to be resold.

this still does not effect the market price of the good, merely increases potential profitability to the supplier.

taylork37Ohio State FanThe social pipelineMember since Mar 201012005 posts

re: Anyone else think it's total BS that it cost the same to buy(Posted by taylork37 on 3/15/13 at 1:16 pm to jcole4lsu)

quote:with the advent of digital download, one might look at physical media as a cost the supplier has to eat, not pass on to the consumer.

That doesn't equate...they are already passing the cost to the consumer and more than likely plus some. The advent of the new medium simply takes away those costs that again, were already passing along.

quote:this still does not effect the market price of the good, merely increases potential profitability to the supplier.

Of course its an increase in potential profitability....that's the whole point in asking why can't they reduce the price. Not to mention, if they decrease the price of digitally downloaded games, that might entice more gamers to buy...further increasing their potential profitability.

Its not surprising that they don't....its a business and they are there to make a profit...at the same time consumers can ask.

because the price of the good is not set by the costs of production, price is set by the market. if the market will not bear a profitable price the supplier will either have to find a cheaper means of production or cease production altogether. furthermore, the major (the vast major) component of production cost in this case is design - not delivery. you dont even know what the terms of contract are between supplier and retailer, and those may be different depending on party. the cost of deliver in ExWorks would be much different to the supplier as opposed to CIP or DDP. on top of that, some of the cost of traditional delivery vs digital is offset via increased server and technical resources used. i suppose you think bandwidth is free?

quote:so you're a UPS trucker? that explains why you asked the question then.

re: Anyone else think it's total BS that it cost the same to buy(Posted by jcole4lsu on 3/15/13 at 1:26 pm to taylork37)

quote:That doesn't equate..

yes it does. first, read my above post re: terms of contract. second, as one standard is passed by for a new, more efficient standard, the costs of continuing to support the antiquated model becomes a cost the supplier either has to a) eat or b) pass on to the consumer via price increase.

there is absolutely no reason a supplier has to drop the price of a good below current market value just because their production costs have become slightlyreduced. thats just not the way the free market works in a capitalistic society.

taylork37Ohio State FanThe social pipelineMember since Mar 201012005 posts

re: Anyone else think it's total BS that it cost the same to buy(Posted by taylork37 on 3/15/13 at 1:49 pm to jcole4lsu)

quote:second, as one standard is passed by for a new, more efficient standard, the costs of continuing to support the antiquated model becomes a cost the supplier either has to a) eat or b) pass on to the consumer via price increase.

BluRay is hardly an antiquated model. Especiallly considering consoles and the fact that digital download use is severely in the minority.

quote:there is absolutely no reason a supplier has to drop the price of a good below current market value just because their production costs have become slightly reduced. thats just not the way the free market works in a capitalistic society

Of course..but are we still allowed to ask why?

And again...used game sales or lack there of that comes with digital download should give the developers reason to reduce pricing just enough to encourage DD. You didn't respond to that comment.

re: Anyone else think it's total BS that it cost the same to buy(Posted by BTHog on 3/15/13 at 1:55 pm to taylork37)

Exactly. I have $X to spend on video games. Seems to me that the video game makers wouldn't care how many games I bought as long as I spent $X either way. Now if given that they get to keep more of $X if I download rather than buy at WM or what have you, it only stands to reason that it should be in their best interest to sell the game cheaper online than WM has it, and thus sell me TWO games that they keep all the profits on rather than 1 game that they share the profits with a retailer.

And I win by getting two games rather than one for the same amount of money.

re: Anyone else think it's total BS that it cost the same to buy(Posted by jcole4lsu on 3/15/13 at 1:56 pm to taylork37)

quote:BluRay is hardly an antiquated model

am i missing something? what game is being printed on blueray? (thats a serious question btw, i do everything digital) regardless, bluray/cd/fricking laserdisc - doesnt matter - the "antiquated" part of that statement is referring to any physical distribution. look at new computers for example - they used to come with discs for backup, reload, even the full blow OS at times - now its a program on the unit and they expect you to create those discs yourself. same for software like Office 2010. go to bestbuy and youll be buying a product key card, not the actual media.

quote:but are we still allowed to ask why?

the answer is because the market (consumers - in this case gamers aka "us") are not willing to forgo games just because the price of digital is the same as physical. of course you can keep asking but the answer is always the same.

re: Anyone else think it's total BS that it cost the same to buy(Posted by BTHog on 3/15/13 at 2:03 pm to jcole4lsu)

quote:they would rather you find a way to pony up the extra cash for another game.

I guess I'm just not a hardcore gamer than, because I limit myself to just a few new titles every year. Probably not even half as many as I'd like to buy. I pass on a lot of cool looking games simply because I don't feel like spending $60 on a game.